OpEd: Dems call Scott "senator for the Heritage Foundation"

"The campaign is going to be about eradicating poverty (and) talking about the issues of free markets," he said after speaking to a group of youthful offenders in Columbia. "We believe that conservatism works."

Democrats call Scott the senator for the Heritage Foundation, the conservative group DeMint now heads.

Scott's reaction? "Silence is what I have to say," he said out loud. "Everybody has a label for you. I'm going to let the people of South Carolina decide how good I'm working on their behalf.
This is a job application. I'm applying for a job."

Grew up poor in a black community in North Charleston

Although many African-Americans look warily at black Republicans, not all have rejected Sen. Scott, even if they don't embrace his GOP label. During a visit to The State in February, the senator said African-Americans have told him that while
they might not vote for him, they appreciate his upbeat message, and they express pride in his service.

Scott is an intelligent, driven, likable man who has overcome many odds.
He tells anyone who will listen about how he grew up poor in a black community in North Charleston, the devastating effects of his parents' divorce, his single mother's tireless efforts to care for the family, flunking out of school and
finding his way back. He got his act together, completed college and enjoyed a successful career in the insurance business.

We in America are a conservative nation

Tim Scott said in his CPAC speech, "We in America are a conservative nation" arguing that "We have to grow our economy, not our government." He discussed the need to "bring fiscal sanity back to Washington, D.C."
Scott continued his theme on the economy and quoted a personal mentor who said "Having a job is a good thing, creating jobs is a far better thing."

Declined to join the Congressional Black Caucus

Among the 43 CBC members he was the only Republican. That was Lieutenant Colonel West.

Before the 2010 elections, the House Democrats had 42 black members.
The Republicans had zero. Now there were two of the latter. The other African-American freshman, Tim Scott from the old slave market town of Charleston, SC, had made it clear during the
2010 campaign that he had no interest in joining the CBC with its liberal agenda. West hadn't discussed the subject with Scott.

Raised in Atlanta less than two miles from
Ebenezer Baptist Church, West could still remember the primal wailings of his mother and aunts the night Martin Luther King was shot. To honor the perseverance of his forebears, West knew what he had to do.

Member of the Tea Party movement.

Scott is a member the Tea Party movement

The Tea Party movement is a populist conservative social movement in the United States that emerged in 2009 through a series of locally and nationally coordinated protests. The protests were partially in response to several Federal laws: the stimulus package; te healthcare bill; and the TARP bailouts. The name "Tea Party" refers to the Boston Tea Party of 1773, the source of the phrase, "No Taxation Without Representation."